Click Track - May 2, 2010

Coda: Christina Aguilera and Roger Waters battle backlash; New DMV rap videos abound; Unrest reunites; Jeff Mangum resurfaces

Over 1,000 Click Track readers voted in our Aguilera backlash poll. Meantime, Xtinabot remained impervious to human criticism. (Courtesy of RCA) On Click Track, it was a week of artists battling backlash: Christina Aguilera was under fire for biting Lady...

By Chris Richards | May 7, 2010; 4:35 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Coda | Tags: Coda
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Breaking down concert ticket service charges

Primo seats for Rihanna's Aug. 20 concert at Jiffy Lube Live cost $105.75. Add service charges and they jump up to $122.90. (Francois Durand/Getty Images) By Chris Richards For generations, pop fans have been confronted with vexing questions. Why do...

By Chris Richards | May 7, 2010; 2:10 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: In today's Post
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Be Specific: Phil Ade video director 6ix Shoota on channeling "Electric Relaxation"

By Sarah Godfrey As mentioned earlier this week, May has already produced a bounty of amazing DMV hip-hop videos. Among the standouts: the new video for Phil Ade’s “Always There,” from the Maryland rapper/singer's 2009 mixtape, "Starting on JV."...

By Sarah Godfrey | May 7, 2010; 1:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Be specific | Tags: 6ix Shoota, Phil Ade, Raheem DeVaughn, Tabi Bonney
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Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel comes out of seclusion for benefit concert in New York

By David Malitz - in New York Thursday night's show at Manhattan nightclub Le Poisson Rouge was a 7-hour marathon that served as a benefit for cult New Zealand indie-rock favorite Chris Knox, who suffered a stroke last year...

By Chris Richards | May 7, 2010; 11:20 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: In concert | Tags: Chris Knox, Jeff Mangum, Kyp Malone, Neutral Milk Hotel, Portastatic, Superchunk, TV on the Radio, Yo La Tengo, the Clean
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Local news: Second Maxwell show at Verizon "rescheduled"

Washington fans will have to trek to Baltimore for a second night with Maxwell. (REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni) By Chris Richards Promoters at Live Nation announced this morning that Maxwell's Verizon Center concert on Thursday, June 17 has been "rescheduled" for Baltimore's...

By Chris Richards | May 7, 2010; 10:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Local news | Tags: Jill Scott, Maxwell
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Celebs contribute to Nashville flood relief; Elton John banned in Egypt; R.I.P. Plan-It-X Records

Flood relief efforts in Nashville are getting a helping hand from Taylor Swift, Ke$ha, Kenny Chesney and others. (Jeff Gentner/Getty Images) By Ally Schweitzer - The music industry is pitching in to help Tennesseans recover from the record-breaking rainfall that...

By Ally Schweitzer | May 7, 2010; 8:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Morning click | Tags: Against Me!, Elton John, Japanther, Ke$ha, Taylor Swift
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Clicky shuffle: Random songs for Friday morning

By Chris Richards I spent some time following Swedish pop duo jj around SXSW in March and caught frontwoman Elin Kastlander singing Jeremih's 2009 R&B hit "Birthday Sex" to herself a couple times. During our interviews, she failed to mention...

By Chris Richards | May 7, 2010; 8:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Clicky shuffle
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Taking sides: Is guerrilla music marketing effective in 2010? Or just annoying?

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters apologized when his marketing campaign postered over an Elliott Smith memorial, but should he have launched the campaign in the first place? (AP Photo/Jeff Christensen) Earlier this week, the blogerati hurled criticism at Pink Floyd vet...

By Chris Richards | May 6, 2010; 2:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Taking sides | Tags: Craig Mack, Elliott Smith, Neon Indian, Nine Inch Nails, Notorious B.I.G., Pink Floyd, Roger Waters
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In concert: OK Go at 9:30 club

OK Go: Overstimulated and underwhelming at the 9:30 club. (All photos by Kyle Gustafson/FTWP) By Chris Klimek Power-pop power-pranksters OK Go fear nothing but boredom - theirs or ours - but that fear is huge. Also motivational: They've lately made...

By Ally Schweitzer | May 6, 2010; 12:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: In concert | Tags: OK Go
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In concert: Local Natives at the Rock 'n' Roll Hotel

Local Natives brought breezy but all-too-familiar tunes to H St. Wednesday night. (All photos by Mark Abramson/TWP) By Patrick Foster Are the Vampire Weekend-alikes here already? Ok, it is a bit unfair to dismiss Local Natives as a simple knockoff,...

By Ally Schweitzer | May 6, 2010; 12:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: In concert | Tags: Local Natives
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B.o.B. tops the charts; Roger Waters apologizes for vandalism, doesn't know who Elliott Smith is; Lilith Fair local show details

B.o.B. fulfilled his superstar potential by hitting No. 1 on the Billboard charts. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) By David Malitz - "[T]he young Atlanta rhyme zinger is certainly capable of future pop dominance." Our own Chris Richards wrote that about B.o.B....

By David Malitz | May 6, 2010; 9:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Morning click | Tags: B.o.B., Bobby Ray, Cat Power, Court Yard Hounds, Elliott Smith, Indigo Girls, Lilith Fair, Roger Waters, Sarah McLachlan
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Clicky shuffle: Random songs for Thursday morning

By David Malitz Apparently today's edition is mostly brought to you by the NME, circa 1992. Which isn't a bad thing, of course. Only Magnetic Fields represent for America. The Fall song is highlight of the bunch, though. But isn't...

By David Malitz | May 6, 2010; 8:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Clicky shuffle
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Be Specific: Darn Good on killing trees for the good of DMV hip-hop

Local rapper Darn Good is getting into the magazine business. (Photo courtesy of the artist) Darnelle Hines, AKA Darn Good, is a solo hip-hop artist who just released his first EP, “Young Black and Gifted,” is one half of...

By Sarah Godfrey | May 5, 2010; 3:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Be specific | Tags: Darn Good, Kapital Magazine, Young Black & Gifted
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Welcome to Your Backlash, Christina Aguilera!

By Allison Stewart When Christina Aguilera debuted her new video, "Not Myself Tonight" last week, online reaction was swift and merciless. Many outlets used variations on the word "desperate" to describe it, and most everyone pointed out the clip's...

By Allison Stewart | May 5, 2010; 12:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Riffs | Tags: Christina Aguilera
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Roger Waters campaign angers Elliott Smith fans; Taylor Swift adds a second D.C. date; Unrest plays reunion gigs

Roger Waters's tour marketing campaign is under fire for defacing the Elliott Smith memorial in Los Angeles, above. (Photo from Gustavo Turner's LA Weekly blog) By Ally Schweitzer - Elliott Smith fans are steaming after street artists hired to promote...

By Ally Schweitzer | May 5, 2010; 9:05 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Morning click | Tags: Elliott Smith, Roger Waters, Taylor Swift, Unrest
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Clicky shuffle: Random songs for Wednesday morning

By Joe Heim Alejandro Escovedo leads off the morning shuffle. If I could only go to one more concert, I just might choose to go see Escovedo, who combines genius and spirit like almost no one else. So, for today,...

By Ally Schweitzer | May 5, 2010; 8:50 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Clicky shuffle
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In concert: Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek

Talib Kweli was back with Hi-Tek and the results were excellent, as expected. (All photos by Kyle Gustafson/FTWP) By Sarah Godfrey "After 10 years, the wait is just two weeks away," Talib Kweli said at the Black Cat on Monday,...

By David Malitz | May 4, 2010; 1:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: In concert | Tags: Hi-Tek, Reflection Eternal, Talib Kweli
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Album review: Court Yard Hounds, "Court Yard Hounds"

Court Yard Hounds lack bite on their debut album. (By Bruce Gilbert) By Chris Richards Now here's a debut album with real powder-keg potential. When lead singer Natalie Maines sent the Dixie Chicks into that dreaded limbo known as "indefinite...

By David Malitz | May 4, 2010; 11:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Album reviews | Tags: Court Yard Hounds
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Singles file: Pill, Kele, My Morning Jacket

Pill gets mellow; still doesn't release full mixtape. (Photo courtesy of the artist) By Allison Stewart A weekly playlist for the listener with a one-track mind... Pill: "Ok Denn" The Atlanta rapper gets mellow, at least in a relative sense,...

By David Malitz | May 4, 2010; 10:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Singles file | Tags: Diddy, Jay Electronica, Kele, My Morning Jacket, Pill, Rusko
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Album review: The Hold Steady, "Heaven Is Whenever"

By Bill Friskics-Warren The spirituality inherent in the concert experience has long been explicit in the Hold Steady's music, and here, five studio albums into what is shaping up as a brilliant career, frontman Craig Finn still sounds transported...

By David Malitz | May 4, 2010; 10:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Quick spins | Tags: The Hold Steady
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Album review: Deftones, "Diamond Eyes"

By Allison Stewart Back in the day, the Deftones were dubbed hard rock's answer to Radiohead. Sacramento-based, they were technically the confederates of don't-call-them-nu-metal acts like Korn and Tool, only smarter, more ephemeral and half in love with the...

By David Malitz | May 4, 2010; 10:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Quick spins | Tags: Deftones
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Network News

Click Track: May 2, 2010 - May 8, 2010

Coda: Christina Aguilera and Roger Waters battle backlash; New DMV rap videos abound; Unrest reunites; Jeff Mangum resurfaces

Breaking down concert ticket service charges

Be Specific: Phil Ade video director 6ix Shoota on channeling "Electric Relaxation"

Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel comes out of seclusion for benefit concert in New York

Local news: Second Maxwell show at Verizon "rescheduled"

Celebs contribute to Nashville flood relief; Elton John banned in Egypt; R.I.P. Plan-It-X Records

Clicky shuffle: Random songs for Friday morning

Taking sides: Is guerrilla music marketing effective in 2010? Or just annoying?

In concert: OK Go at 9:30 club

In concert: Local Natives at the Rock 'n' Roll Hotel

B.o.B. tops the charts; Roger Waters apologizes for vandalism, doesn't know who Elliott Smith is; Lilith Fair local show details

Clicky shuffle: Random songs for Thursday morning

Be Specific: Darn Good on killing trees for the good of DMV hip-hop

Welcome to Your Backlash, Christina Aguilera!

Roger Waters campaign angers Elliott Smith fans; Taylor Swift adds a second D.C. date; Unrest plays reunion gigs

Clicky shuffle: Random songs for Wednesday morning

In concert: Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek

Album review: Court Yard Hounds, "Court Yard Hounds"

Singles file: Pill, Kele, My Morning Jacket

Album review: The Hold Steady, "Heaven Is Whenever"

Album review: Deftones, "Diamond Eyes"

Album review: Toni Braxton, "Pulse"

Album review: Barbra Streisand, "One Night Only Barbra Streisand and Quartet at The Village Vanguard"

Washington's rappers unleash new videos; Grand Ole Opry floods; Are you sure you want to see Creed this summer?

Clicky shuffle: Random songs for Tuesday morning

Week ahead: Tribute to TCB's Polo, Jay-Z on "SNL," Canadian supergroups release new albums

Live last night: Echo and the Bunnymen, Shout Out Louds

Frankie Rose on leaving bands and leading her own

In concert: Citizen Cope at 9:30 club

Sentencing today for punk rock murder; Willie Nelson plans more tunes; Alan Jackson plays benefit for W. Va. miners

Clicky shuffle: Random songs for Monday morning